This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
News
Diageo rolls out health warning on spirits labels
Smirnoff owner Diageo will update its spirits labels with enhanced health guidance next year – the first alcohol company in the UK to introduce the voluntary warning.
The updated labels will appear on one-litre bottles of Gordon’s Pink Gin in early 2021
Diageo will initially roll out the new labels on bottles of Smirnoff vodka, Gordon’s gin, Baileys cream liqueur and Captain Morgan rum in the UK.
The updated labels will first appear on 700ml and one-litre bottles of Smirnoff, and one-litre bottles of Gordon’s Pink Gin in early 2021. It will be followed by Baileys and Captain Morgan, and then on pack across all Diageo brands available in Great Britain.
The new label with enhanced health information
The new guidance on the bottles will direct consumers to drinkiq.com – a resource that aims to provide drinkers with more information on alcohol. Diageo has updated the website with additional information to support and educate people with different levels of alcohol consumption. It also includes a stronger focus on mental and physical health.
The resource includes a new self-assessment test, based on the World Health Organization’s alcohol use disorders identification test. The tool points individuals at risk of high levels of alcohol consumption to more information or assistance from health services.
The website also includes a quiz, available in 16 languages, and lifestyle features on topics including how drinking affects the body and mind.
The relaunch of the Drink IQ website aims to help Diageo meet its target of reaching one billion people with messages of moderation by 2030. The move is part of the firm’s Society 2030: Spirit of Progress plan, which has been developed to “make a positive impact on the world”.
Dayalan Nayager, managing director of Diageo UK, said: “As the UK’s leading spirits producer, we think it is essential that our consumers make informed choices about alcohol. We want to change the way the world drinks for the better, and today’s initiatives are just the first step forward in our long-term global ambition to reach one billion people with messages of moderation over the next 10 years.”
Last month, The Spirits Business looked at how new labelling rules could affect the industry.